Too Big for the Present
by Kirsteena
Summary: A new year for New Directions, and with a little help, all is going well - until one of the Glee members is forced to leave. But is there more to this than meets the eye?
1. Chapter 1

The first thing Will could think of when he received the message that Figgins needed to see him urgently was 'what the hell has Sue done now?'

The summer break had been relaxing, but Will couldn't wait to start preparing New Directions for Sectionals properly. The knowledge that they wouldn't get another opportunity unless they placed at Regionals meant that he'd done a lot of research over the holidays, and had prepared an extensive list of songs he considered good choices for them to perform that year. He knew they couldn't expect such an easy ride as they did last year at Sectionals – what were the odds of getting drawn against a School for the Deaf and a half way house again? – but with the twelve talented kids he already had, plus whoever else they could recruit (Rachel had already put posters up throughout the school, and was targeting freshmen directly before they could realize the social death Glee was), they had a chance. However, the summons to Figgins' office had Will on edge. They were only two days into the semester. He was hoping for a little more time before the battles started.

He nodded at Donna, Figgins' secretary, as he walked past, before knocking on the door. "You wanted to see me?" he said as he opened it, popping his head into the room.

"Ah, William!" Figgins said, smiling. He was in a good mood, wanting to make some kind of impression, Will thought to himself. Sue can't be involved. He relaxed as he entered the room, catching sight of a woman sitting on the couch. He nodded politely at her before focusing on Figgins. "I want you to meet someone. This is Amy Henderson. She has just moved to the school district, and has volunteered to help at Glee club. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Uh...?" Will began, looking from Figgins to the woman curiously. "Hi," he said lamely.

The woman, who appeared to be in her late twenties, or maybe early thirties, gave Will a bright smile. "Mr Schuester," she said, standing up and holding out her hand for him to shake. "I've heard a lot of good things about you."

Will couldn't help returning her bright smile. "Thanks. I think," he said, shaking her hand before glancing back at Figgins.

"She contacted me and volunteered her services," the Principal shrugged. "And given everything, I thought you'd appreciate the help." The implications were obvious. Will nodded, understanding, though he was still unsure how to take the offer.

"My husband saw your kids sing at Regionals," Amy said by way of an explanation. "He thought you should have placed, that you were far better than Aural Intensity. He mentioned the performance again when we moved here, and I've been looking for ways to get back involved with music. I majored in musical performance at college, and I miss it. It just seemed like perfect opportunity."

Will nodded, still smiling before turning back to Figgins. "Sounds good," he said, agreeing.

"Wonderful!" Figgins replied, nodding before picking up his pen. "I suggest you get to know Mrs Henderson, then introduce her to the children later. " That was a dismissal if ever he heard one. Will opened the door, letting Amy stand up and go through it first, before leading the way to his office. When there, he pulled out a seat, letting her get comfortable before sitting behind his desk.

"I must admit, I was a little surprised to find anyone who'd be willing to help with Glee," Will said, looking over at Amy. "Especially someone who majored in musical performance. Can I ask why you aren't making a career out of it?"

"Personal tragedy at just the wrong time," Amy said in a flat voice, though she balanced it with a small smile. "It kind of screwed up my senior year, and I lost my opportunity. I teach violin a bit though, and like I say, my husband was impressed with your kids at Regionals. He was inot/i impressed with Aural Intensity," she said with a grin. "Though Vocal Adrenaline's performance was... interesting."

Will gave a low laugh. "Most of us missed that. One of our kids was pregnant, and went into labor right after our performance. The majority of us ended up at the hospital to support her."

"Wow. That's impressive," Amy smiled at him. "The kids are close to each other?"

"Sort of?" Will said, thinking fondly of the twelve kids who'd grown so far in the nine months since he'd taken over at Glee. "For a group of jocks, cheerleaders and misfits, they do well."

"And they're all back again this year?" Amy asked curiously.

"First rehearsal is in a couple of hours, actually," Will said, glancing up at the clock on the wall. "But given I've seen most of them already, and they're practically bouncing with excitement, I'd say it's a good bet that they'll all be there."

Amy was watching Will carefully. "You really care for these kids, don't you?" she asked.

Will couldn't help laughing slightly. "I don't know if we will get any new people this year, but the twelve kids we had last year – yeah, they are special. They have more than their fair share of drama, but they are great kids, every single one of them. They've all got strong personalities – they might be hidden, but they're there – and it's been a joy to watch them develop and grow as people. I honestly can't wait to see what they're capable of this year."

Amy continued watching Will for a moment or two before nodding. "They sound like they are a good crowd," she said. "I wish I'd been involved with Glee more when I was at school, but after sophomore year I was pretty busy with other musical stuff, and something had to give. It was Adrian, my husband, who suggested I look at this as a way to get involved in music again. He was in Glee all through high school."

"Can I ask you a question?" Will asked, frowning slightly.

"Sure."

"Why are you doing this, especially if it wasn't your own idea?"

Amy's almost permanent smile faltered for a second, before she plastered it back into place. "I want a chance to give back, to help kids with a love for music," she said distantly, before focusing on Will again. "When I rang up your principal, he seemed enthusiastic..."

"Yeah," Will said, pulling a face. "Before you start though, there are a couple of things you should probably know about us. We ihave/i to place at Regionals this year, or else the programme will be cut. No exceptions. Also, the cheerleading coach is very anti-Glee, and might hate you on the spot on principle."

"Sue Sylvester? I've heard about her," Amy said, nodding. "Seen her on TV, certainly."

"Yeah, she and I don't get on so well, and she spent a lot of last year trying to have the program cut. I'm hoping she's completely focused on her Cheerios this year, but I've learned not to expect too much. We've got three, maybe four of her cheerleaders in Glee depending if Quinn gets back on the squad."

"Wow. Anyone else I should know about?"

"Why don't you meet the kids, form your own opinion?" Will said with a smile. "First rehearsal is at three."

Kurt, Mercedes, Artie and Tina were unsurprisingly the first to arrive at the choir room. They were chatting happily, Artie and Tina sitting close to each other, when Rachel and Finn entered.

"Ready to start preparing for Sectionals?" Rachel said brightly, holding tightly onto Finn's hand as she dragged him over to sit down next to Tina. The four friends exchanged glances, suppressing smiles.

"Girl, give us at least one welcome back rehearsal," Mercedes said, with an exaggerated sigh.

"But we should start work straight away," Rachel protested, a hurt look crossing her face. "We don't want a repeat of what happened last year at Sectionals, do we? I think we should start work on our main set, and have a back up prepared just in case..."

"Rach, calm down," Finn said, taking her hand, which had the effect of calming her down instantly. "We've got time."

"Besides, we don't know if we'll have any new students," Artie pointed out. "We'll need to figure out where their voices fit in the best before we can really start."

"I'm betting on Mr Schue giving us a theme of beginnings this week," Kurt said suddenly.

Tina groaned. "Too much to hope that he'd forget all about his weekly themes?" she said.

Artie just laughed. "This is Mr Schue we're talking about. The real bet should be when he first bursts into tears."

The six students snickered at that, then all of them looked up as two new people stood in the doorway, staring into the room. Rachel immediately bounced up, heading over to them. "Looking for Glee?" she asked in her brightest voice. At their timid nods, she put on her brightest smile. "I'm Rachel Berry, co-captain of New Directions..."

Satisfied that Rachel could deal with the new students, the remaining five turned to each other. "Good summer?" Artie asked Finn. He'd seem him a little whenever they'd visited Kurt, but generally Finn had been kept busy with Rachel, doing various activities she deemed worthy, no doubt designed to help him cope with Glee this year.

"Good actually," Finn said, smiling slightly and glancing over at Rachel.

"Uh huh," Mercedes said, laughing slightly. "We see that same look between Wheels and Tina. You got it bad, White Boy."

"Hey!" Tina protested, glancing at Artie. "We do not look that way!"

"Hate to burst your bubble, Tina, but if you two look any more adorable we might just throw up," Kurt said, before examining a nail carefully. "It's actually hard to tell who is the most adorable couple right now."

"Ouch." Both Finn and Artie laughed.

Rachel bounced back over to the group, the two new freshmen in tow. "Guys, this is Briony and Jack, two new recruits, and we may be getting more. Isn't this great?"

Just before the rehearsal was due to start, everyone from the previous year, plus four new recruits were sitting waiting patiently for Will to arrive. Things seem much the same. Puck's Mohawk was back, Brittany and Santana were inseparable, Quinn was sat close to Mercedes and Kurt... everything seemed normal.

"Guys!" Will seemed to skip into the room, his excitement at seeing them all there plain to see. At least he wasn't crying yet. Every one's attention was immediately taken by the woman walking in close behind him. "It's so good to see you all! And new faces, excellent. Well, first of all, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Mrs Henderson. She's very kindly agreed to help us this year, as a volunteer. She's heard good things about you all."

As one, everyone turned to look at Rachel, knowing that she would have something to say about this. They weren't disappointed. "Mr Schue. No offence meant, of course, but while I appreciate the offer to help us, I would like to know what her qualifications are that would make her a valid co-coach, which is what I assume you're proposing. I'm sure all of us would agree that we didn't go through all the pain of losing at Regionals last year to have our club sabotaged again."

"Rachel..." Will began, before being interrupted by Amy.

"It's fine, Mr Schuester. It's a valid concern," she said, smiling and stepping forward. "I've always had an interest in music, and majored in musical performance at the University of Toledo. I mainly play and teach violin, but I've also been known to sing. Whereas I haven't worked with a Glee club before, I was in my school's club for a year, before I got involved with too many orchestras and other musical activities, and something had to give. I enjoyed it my time there, and when I moved to Lima I was looking for an opportunity to give something back to music."

Rachel paused for a moment, then smiled sweetly and sat back down, mollified for the moment. "All okay?" Will asked her, and after he'd received a nod, carried on. "As I was saying, Mrs Henderson has got some good ideas, which I've no doubt we'll get to, but for now, I think we should sing through a couple of familiar things, let the new kids find their voice, as it were, yes?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Thank you for the comments, and alerts. It's encouraging, and good to know that people are reading this. At the moment it's looking like it will be a six part story, and thankfully I have most of the next three chapters written, as I need to stop procrastinating on my ArTina ficathon story...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, though I wish I did. That belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox.

* * *

Mrs Henderson was a genius, Rachel had declared within a week of her beginning to help out at rehearsals. She had a knowledge of Broadway that while it didn't quite rival Rachel's, came very close - close enough to make Rachel happy. She laughed along with the rest of them when Mr Schue showed off his questionable rap skills once again. The new kids settled into the routine of rehearsals quickly. Preparations began in plenty of time for Sectionals - complete with a back up plan just in case certain people decided to leak set lists or do something similar once again. Sue Sylvester seemed focused on her Cheerios, and her determination to make it seven National wins in a row.

"This can't last," Tina said one lunch time as the usual four of herself, Kurt, Mercedes and Artie sat around one of the tables in the cafeteria. They were in a corner tucked out of the way, mainly so Artie was out of the line of fire - too often he'd had dinner trays end up in his lap, and as he said, cafeteria food smelt bad enough when you were eating it, never mind when you ended up wearing it.

"What can't?" Mercedes asked, looking up from the food that she was picking at, trying to find something vaguely edible.

"It's been what, three weeks since the start of semester, and there isn't any drama," Tina replied. "Rachel hasn't even stormed out once."

"And that is the weirdest thing of all," Artie agreed, pushing his tray away from him. "Either dating Finn has calmed her down - which I doubt, because Rachel is just Rachel - or else things are going her way, and we've all stepped into an alternative universe where we don't actually mind that she and Finn are getting all the solos."

"Oh, believe me, it isn't Finn," Kurt said thoughtfully. "I've had the misfortune to overhear them on the phone. He spends his time agreeing with her, giving one word answers, generally 'Yes', 'Mmmhmm' and the occasional 'Uh huh', Not the most literate of answers, but Finn will be Finn. It must be something else."

"Mrs Henderson's influence, maybe?," Tina mused, as the others nodded in agreement. "She does works well with Mr Schue."

"_And_, when Coach Sylvester inevitably turns her attention back to us, it's a fresh mind against her scheming," Mercedes pointed out. "One she can't really touch. That can't be a bad thing."

"So why am I waiting for the other shoe to drop?" Tina asked. "I mean, we had enough to deal with by this time last year."

"Well, hopefully there won't be any baby drama this year," Artie said.

"Yeah," Mercedes drew out, looking pointedly at Artie and Tina. "Or relationship dramas. We've had enough of those to last us a while."

Tina flushed slightly before glancing over at Artie. "We're not intending on causing any drama, trust me."

Another Glee rehearsal went well. Tina couldn't help thinking that maybe she was wrong, that they'd had all the bad stuff last year, and that this year karma was making up for it. After all, what could be worse than coming last in Regionals? Actually, she didn't really want an actual answer to that.

Everyone was enjoying themselves, she could tell. It was in the way they lingered after rehearsal, chatting and joking, even Santana. Mr Schue seemed to have eased up on his theme of the week a little, and if that was Mrs Henderson's influence, she was doubly grateful to the woman. How many times could you come up with songs on how you were feeling about

"Want a push to your car?" she asked Artie as she gathered up her book bag after rehearsal.

"As you wish," Artie grinned at her, giving an expansive gesture. Tina _might_ have muttered 'nerd' under her breath at him. They both knew that he didn't need her to push him, it simply gave them some time just for themselves. What with overprotective parents on both sides, plus an increase in homework in junior year, and generally busy lives with rehearsals, they didn't get a lot of time to themselves. Tina pushing him meant that if they wanted to, they could withdraw into their own little bubble.

Today, however, they were joined on the walk to the parking lot by Brittany, Kurt, Mercedes and Mrs Henderson. "How are you enjoying glee, Mrs H?" Mercedes asked her as they walked towards the exit. "Must be a change for you."

"It's good, Mercedes," Amy replied, smiling at her. "More fun than I ever thought it would be."

"How do you know so much about Broadway?" Kurt asked. After Rachel, he was the one who knew the most out of the kids, and he'd been stunned to find someone else in Lima who knew anything about musicals.

"I've always been interested in it, but after I graduated college I spent a year in New York, doing some casual work in theaters. I did a bit of session musician work, that kind of thing," Amy replied, lost in thought for a moment. "I kind of absorbed it as I went along."

"You lived in New York?" Kurt gasped, his eyes wide. "I really want to live there one day."

"Uh huh," Amy nodded, her eyes brightening as she warmed to the subject. "It was an amazing place to live and work. Tough, but worth it."

Kurt smiled happily as they all left the school building, using the recently installed wheelchair ramp. Mercedes waved goodbye as she headed off in the direction of her home, followed closely by Kurt and Brittany. Amy walked a little further with Artie and Tina before she also said her farewells and headed off towards her car. Tina smiled and waved, then wheeled Artie over to where his mother was stood outside of their van, waiting to take him home.

"Hi, Mrs Abrams," Tina said brightly when they got close. She glanced up when Artie's mom didn't respond. The older woman was looking off into the distance, directly at the school entrance the small group had emerged from. She seemed lost in thought.

Artie and Tina exchanged a look. It wasn't like his mom to ignore Tina - the two actually got on very well. "Mom?" Artie asked, curious as to what she was looking at. "You okay?"

Neither of them expected her to suddenly turn on the spot, ignore Tina and snap at Artie. "We need to go now."

"Mom, you okay?" Artie repeated his question, his voice showing his concern for his mother.

"Of course I am. Say goodbye to Tina, we need to go."

"Where's the fire?" Artie joked, but was quelled by his look his mother gave him. When he looked up at Tina, she shrugged, just as confused as he was. She leaned down and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Talk later?" she murmured at him. He nodded in return, already being ushered into the van by his mother. In double quick time he was seated, his chair folded and stowed away. Mrs Abrams got into the driver's seat, started the van and pulled away quickly. Artie gave Tina a small wave as they left the school grounds.

Tina just stood there, watching the pair of them leave and wondering what the hell just happened.

The ring tone on her phone was unfamiliar, and made her jump, but given it was 'Smoke on the Water' - Artie's latest obsession on the guitar, and add that to the fact that he'd been playing around with her phone earlier that day, she had a pretty good idea of who it would be. She grabbed her phone from next to the pile of homework she'd been procrastinating about, smiling as she saw a picture of Artie grinning back at her. She'd taken it during the summer break, when they'd spent a lazy day in the park, laughing as they tried to work out why all the other people were there, their suggestions becoming more and more outrageous as the day wore on, followed by sharing a huge ice-cream sundae. One of the best days of the summer break.

She broke out of her memory, realizing that the phone was still ringing. "Hey you," she said happily.

"Bad time?" Artie asked. "You took forever to answer."

"Nah, it's fine. Finished my homework, was just thinking about maybe dying my hair again."

"What color this time?" Artie asked curiously. Since Tina had given him her feminist rant, he'd not made any comment about her look, but he was always curious about the color, something that amused Tina.

"Why, is there a color you'd like?" she teased. She could never get him to outright say which was his favorite, though if you knew him it was obvious. He was always seemed to be that little bit extra-affectionate the first couple of days after she dyed her hair blue.

"No, I just wondered," he said innocently.

"Wait and see tomorrow," Tina said, grinning to herself. "By the way, Smoke on the Water?"

"You knew it was me, didn't you?"

"Considering you haven't played anything but that for the last week, I'm sure even your Mom could have guessed it was you calling." The sudden silence at the end of the phone was unexpected. "Artie? You okay? You've gone quiet, and let's face it, you normally talk enough for both of us."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she heard him reply, but there was something up. She could hear it in his tone. He waited a moment for her to respond, and when she didn't he sighed. "Mom's just being really weird today."

"Still? I mean, she was kind of off at school when she picked you up."

"Yeah, and I think Dad's as confused as I am - he keeps looking at me and shrugging like I'm supposed to know the answers."

"Weird."

"That's not the half of it. She's going into hyper-protective mode again, which she hasn't done for a long time. My entire schedule is attached to the fridge door now, and I'm expected to stick to it - any changes to it, and she wants to know straight away."

"Why has she gone like that?" Tina wondered. "She's normally the cool one."

"No idea. If she keeps it up, I'm going to ring Becky and ask her." Becky was Artie's older sister. A physical therapist, she was eight years older than Artie and lived in Columbus with her husband, but Tina knew the whole family were close and talked to each other a lot.

"Are we still going to be able to go to the movies on Friday?" Tina asked.

"We're going." Artie's tone was determined. "Even if I have to get Dad to persuade her."

Tina couldn't help the smile that crossed her face, even if Artie couldn't see it. She flopped back on her bed, lying back. "Good. I haven't had nearly enough time with you lately."

"What, other than half your classes and Glee?" Tina could hear the amusement in Artie's voice. "Never mind most of the summer."

"I'm possessive of my time with you now," she said. "Besides, a lot of the summer had parental supervision."

"Anyone would think that they didn't trust us," Artie laughed.

"Lemme see. Two teenagers dating. Would you?" Tina responded, laughing in return.

'What this time?' was the thought that crossed Will's mind as he got the summons to Figgins' office. This time it had to be something to do with Sue. She'd been too quiet, other than a few pointed jibes about Will's hair and his failed relationship with Emma. As usual, he'd done his best to ignore the comments, but he knew that eventually Sue would step it up a gear. However, he wasn't expecting Artie's mother to be sitting there with a grim expression on her face.

"Mrs Abrams. Hi," Will said, moving warily into the room. Something was wrong. "Nice to see you again."

"Mr Schuester," she replied, the tone in her voice matching her expression. Like most of the Glee kids, their parents had a tendency to address him as Mr Schue. The formality had Will on edge. "I'll keep this brief. I know we're both busy people. As of now, Artie will no longer be attending Glee."

Will felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. Artie no longer attending Glee? He knew how much Artie loved it, how much he'd grown as a person since starting. More confident both in himself and around people who would otherwise look down on him. The others loved being around him as well - he'd developed so many close friendships, and with people you wouldn't expect, like Brittany. "I beg your pardon?" was all he could say.

"My husband and I feel that Glee is not the place for him. He needs to focus on his studies in order to get into a good college. Opportunities will be hard enough for him to get with his condition," she replied. "That, combined with the fact that there are people in Glee who we think are a bad influence on other students, means that we no longer feel comfortable with him being there."

"Mrs Abrams, you realize he stands a much better chance of getting a good scholarship with his music?" Will said, looking between her and Figgins, who was sitting back, just watching the scene. "With that and his AV work..." Will stopped, taking a deep breath. "He's one of our best musicians, and he loves it. We can't afford to lose him."

Mrs Abrams fixed Will with a stare. "I understand that Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson take the majority of the solos," she said.

"Well..."

"Mr Schuester, I have attended all of my son's performances, both here at school, and at the show choir championships. I have never once seen him sing a solo, unless you call adding harmonies solo work - what was it his friend Mercedes called it? 'Wailing at the end'. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, he's more likely to be shoved off to the side, playing his guitar."

Will winced. It was true that at first, they weren't entirely sure what to do with Artie, where to place him, so yes, they did tend to push him to the side at first, but it hadn't happened for quite some time. "We haven't decided what we are performing this year," he said weakly, feeling that he should defend himself somehow, though unsure how.

"I have no reason to believe that this year will be any different. You have your requisite twelve members with the new additions Artie has told me about, so I believe his musical talent will not be missed. I've made my decision, and it's final. Artie will no longer be in Glee."

Tina was humming to herself as she sprawled on her bed, reading the book they had been assigned for English. She jumped as her phone rang, the tone giving away who it was. Artie was early in calling her - she knew his schedule, and his family would barely have finished eating. "Hey you," she said cheerfully after pressing answer. "You're early."

"Tina?" That one word instantly had Tina on alert. Something was wrong - she could hear it clearly in his voice. He was upset about something - the tone was virtually the same that he'd used that night after their first date, after she'd told him about her stutter, where for once he showed the hurt and upset he carried around with him, but normally hid. She couldn't help the stab of worry that went through her. Had she done something wrong? It was an irrational thought, as she knew she hadn't. In fact, everything had been going well between them.

"Artie? What's wrong?"

Artie didn't answer right away, leaving Tina chewing on her bottom lip anxiously. Was he breaking up with her? Her mind just wouldn't stop reeling with possibilities. "I... Mom..." It was even more obviously he was upset, but Tina relaxed slightly. It wasn't about her.

"Artie, calm down." How many times had he been there for her? She wanted to be there for him. "Whatever it is, I'm here for you."

Another long pause. She could hear him breathing heavily, deliberately trying to calm himself down. "I have to leave Glee."

Whatever she was expecting to hear, that wasn't it. Artie leave Glee? She just couldn't comprehend it. Way back in the beginning, when Mr Schue put up the sign up list, it was the two of them together that had made that agreement - I'll join if you will. Even when they weren't really talking after Stuttergate, they had Glee, and it had helped them move on to where they were today. For Artie not to be there was unthinkable. "W-w-what?" she stammered out, her stutter real, much to her surprise.

"Mom is making me leave Glee."

"But... but _why_?" she asked. She couldn't understand it. Mrs Abrams was normally the first one standing by Artie, encouraging him to do whatever he needed to in order to have a normal 'd supported him when he said he wanted to join Glee, attending all his concerts. There was no reason for her to change.

"Mom says it's so I can focus on studies more, and that she doesn't like some of the people in Glee. They're a bad influence." The way Artie said it, it was obvious he didn't believe it. "She's gone all protective again for no good reason."

"But, you leaving Glee? It's the one thing you really, really love," Tina said, sitting heavily on her bed. "Yeah, you have AV and Jazz club, but I know you - it's not the same."

Artie drew in a ragged breath. "I know. We've been talking about it for at least an hour - well, I've been talking, she's being stubborn. Apparently she's talked to Mr Schue about it, and he's accepted it. I'm out of Glee."

"When did she talk to him?"

"Today, just before end of school," Artie replied before making a frustrated noise. "There's no way round it, not if Mr Schue has agreed. It's the end of Glee for me."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Again, thank you for the comments/alerts. Hopefully this chapter will answer some of the questions that the last chapter threw up! I have to thank my wonderful beta/American nitpicker Heather, without whom this would be a lot more difficult.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee, though I wish I did. That belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox.

* * *

Tina's sleep had been broken, disturbing dreams keeping her from getting a good night's rest. She put it down to worrying about Artie. As they had talked, she had felt more and more numb while he'd become resigned about the whole situation. After all, he said, there wasn't exactly a whole lot he could do about it at the moment, not while his mother was acting like that. He'd have to be patient - luckily something he was good at, given all the times he'd had to wait for things over the years.

It didn't stop Tina from worrying though - both about him, and about the rest of New Directions. Artie was one of the best all round musicians they had, and explaining why he had to leave was going to be difficult, especially to Rachel. Tina hoped that Mr Schue would answer most of the questions onto him, and that everyone would ignore her. She knew that people (well, Rachel) would put her under pressure to try and get him to come back, and that was something she didn't want, either herself or Artie. She was still nervous about it when she reached her locker, and heard a familiar sound - the squeak of Artie's chair. She turned to look at him with a small sad smile.

He looked much the same as her, as if he hadn't slept, and the expression on his face was a familiar one - the one he used to show the world that really, everything was okay, even when it wasn't. Normally Tina would spend time trying to wheedle what was wrong out of him, but for once she knew - he'd talked to her of his own volition. In all this horrible situation she felt as if they'd taken a step forward as a couple.

"Hey," he said in a quiet voice.

"Hey you," she replied, kneeling down in front of him, taking his hand. "Did you even sleep last night?"

"A bit," he said, shrugging slightly. "Probably more than Mom, who I think was up pacing about most of the night."

"She is really acting odd, huh?"

"Yeah. Let's just say last night wasn't a good night."

"What does your Dad think?"

"He was really quiet when he dropped me off this morning. I don't know what he thinks," Artie said, his frustration suddenly becoming evident. "I don't want to have to leave Glee just cause Mom has some kind of weird idea. It's just not fair!"

"Artie, calm down," Tina said, gently rubbing her thumb over his knuckles, unconsciously trying to soothe him. "Weren't you the one who said you'd just have to be patient?"

"I know I am," Artie sighed, smiling slightly at her. "I know. It's just..."

"You hate it. You love Glee, and everyone there. Just give your Mom time. She'll calm down. She can't go on like this forever."

"I don't know if we can go to the movies on Friday," he said suddenly. "I don't even know if I want to push it to ask. I couldn't stand another lecture from Mom about my future."

"We'll work something out."

* * *

If Tina thought that seeing Artie that morning was hard, walking into the Glee rehearsal without him was even worse. She'd deliberately walked slowly to the choir room, making sure she arrived just before the start of rehearsal. She didn't want to have to answer the hundred and one inevitable questions - at least not yet. Spread out over the next couple of days wouldn't be so bad, but today, after a bad night's sleep - Rachel was too intense to be able to deal with easily.

But of course, it was Rachel who noticed the fact that Tina arrived alone first. "Where's Artie?" she demanded as soon as she saw Tina. "We're going to start work on the choreography for the Queen number, and making sure his wheelchair is properly integrated is imperative at this stage if we are to reach perfection by Sectionals..."

"Um..." Tina glanced around, seeing Kurt and Mercedes giving her curious looks. "He's..."

It was then that Will walked in, looking serious, followed by Amy, who just looked confused, as if she wasn't expecting Will to be like that. He saw Tina standing in the room, Rachel staring at her, as withdrawn as she had been when she first joined Glee. "Tina, why don't you sit down? I'll deal with this," he said gently, placing his hand on her shoulder for a moment. Tina nodded, and scurried off to sit beside Mercedes, who wrapped her arm round Tina's shoulder.

"Okay guys, I hate to be the one to tell you, but we are down one member. Artie is no longer in Glee," Will said after taking a deep breath.

"What?" The chorus of shocked response was unanimous.

"The hell?" Puck commented. "What do you mean Wheels has left Glee?"

"That's unacceptable, Mr Schuester!" Rachel declared. "Artie is clearly one of the best musicians in New Directions. We cannot afford to lose such a valuable singer, not in the run up to Sectionals. Not only will it affect the currently balanced set up of the group, but everything we do. Tina, why has he left?" Tina opened her mouth to speak, but didn't get a chance to say anything before Rachel interrupted once again. "Mr Schuester. I demand that you speak to Artie, get him to reconsider his decision. Or at least get Tina to speak to him. As his girlfriend, you have a significant amount of influence over him. Of course, I'm assuming that the pair of you are still dating and this isn't some relationship related drama."

Tina gave her a pained look. "Yes, iwe/i are fine, but It isn't that easy, Rachel," she said quietly, before glancing over at Mr Schue, pleading for him to help her.

"Rach, let Mr Schue speak," Finn said, rubbing her arm to try and calm her.

"Thanks, Finn," Will said, nodding, glancing once at Amy then turning back to the kids. "I don't want to go into details, but it was Artie's Mom who pulled him out of Glee. He needs to focus on his studies, apparently."

"That's bull," Santana said, barely looking up from the seat she was sprawled in, more intent on filing her nail. "Everyone knows Wheels gets higher grades than nearly everyone here. Hell, I've copied his homework more than once in the last year. He's probably got his college application filled in already. So what's the real reason?" She suddenly sat upright, pointing her nail file at Will. "Lemme guess, his Mom's an ultra-boring conservative, right? She doesn't want her precious little boy hanging around people like me."

"Santana..."

"It's okay, Mr Schue. I know how it is. It's not Wheels' fault - for a total nerd he isn't so bad, but I know how it is." Tina couldn't help glancing over at Santana, smiling at her a little. For her to admit that was a big thing, but then Santana and Artie always seemed to get on when they danced together.

Will paused, then nodded. "Well, yes, that is an element of it. But at the end of the day, Mrs Abrams wants what's best for Artie, and at the moment she doesn't think that includes Glee."

"She's way too over protective of him," Santana muttered mostly to himself. "I mean, look at the way he dresses. That says it all."

"I _like _the sweater vests," Tina said, looking at Santana. "They're so..."

"Grandpa like?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Girl, you need to talk some fashion sense into him." Santana looked Tina up and down. "Or get someone else to."

"Good luck with _that_," Kurt muttered, flashing a smile at Santana.

"Guys, we are getting totally off topic," Rachel interrupted, standing up to face them all. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Rachel, there is nothing you can do about it," Tina said. "We talked about it a lot last night. He's tried talking to his mom, tried arguing with her, but she's not changing her mind." She sighed, and frowned. "We just have to accept it, Artie is out of Glee."

* * *

Tina should have known better than to expect Rachel to just give up like that. After all, she was notorious for never letting things go.

Three days after Will had told them all about Artie, the usual four were once again in the cafeteria, eating a quiet lunch when Rachel suddenly sat down at the table, setting her tray down heavily. Finn sidled up beside her, taking a seat rather more quietly.

"Rachel," Artie said, glancing at Tina, then back at Rachel. "This is a surprise." Normally Rachel never sat with them, preferring to either practise singing or Finn's company. He could guess what was coming, and reached for Tina's hand under the table. Tina squeezed it gently

"I was wondering how things were for you," Rachel said brightly. "You know, at home. We miss you."

Artie's grip on Tina's hand tightened ever so slightly. "You miss me or my voice, Rachel?" he asked, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, it's just a little stressful at the moment."

"You should..."

"Rachel, I swear if you say that Artie should sing it out I'm going to pay Karofsky to slushie you every day for a week," Kurt said, taking pity on Artie.

"Rachel, it's nice that you miss me, but Mom is really not changing her mind. Believe me, I've tried everything I can think of, and she just won't. She wasn't even sure about me staying in the jazz club, I had to virtually beg for that." Artie shrugged after a moment. "She might change her mind later on, but when she's like this there is no use arguing. Call it experience."

"I could have a word with her, or better yet, get my dads to."

"No offence to your dads, or what they can do, but I really don't think that will help with Mom." Artie pointed out with a small smile. Truth was, he was missing all of them, and it was nice that Rachel and Finn were talking to them. "I guess I've just got to learn to accept it."

"Dude, it's weird you not being there," Finn said, happy enough now that Rachel had said what she needed to to join in the conversation.

"Agreed," Kurt nodded. "We are severely lacking in the bass department somewhat."

"Aha! So this iis/i all about my voice," Artie grinned, trying to lighten the mood. He glanced at Tina briefly. "It's nice that you miss me, actually."

"Who misses who?" Brittany asked, as she came to join the group as well. She looked at Artie. "I know you..."

Artie couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. It was such a typical Brittany thing to say, and it felt normal.

"Britt, it's only been three days," Tina pointed out. "We had a longer break during the summer."

"Three days since what?"

* * *

It was hard to keep up with what was normal for Tina and Artie when something like Glee had been taken away from them, but they were determined. They met up every day for lunch, sat beside each other every class that they could, spoke to each other on the phone every night (Tina much preferred talking to texting or instant messaging), and their Friday night ritual was mostly unaffected - though they'd been watching movies at Artie's house rather than going to the cinema.

Tina knocked on the Abrams' door. The aim that night was to watch a movie, and just generally try to get Artie to relax. The change in him was probably not noticeable to everyone, but she noticed it - he'd become more withdrawn since leaving Glee. Every time it was mentioned he tensed, though she was probably the only one to see it, and she hated it. She wanted _her_ Artie back, inappropriate comments and all, not the one that was left.

"Tina! Come in." Mrs Abrams stood back to let Tina in, smiling at her. "Artie's in the family room, I think. He was there playing his guitar earlier."

"Thanks Mrs A," Tina said, smiling back at her, then following the familiar sound of Artie's guitar playing into the family room, where he was out of his chair, sitting on the sofa, bowed over the instrument in concentration. She listened for a moment, smiling at the sight. "Hotel California?" she asked eventually, walking into the room and flopping down beside him.

"I've been meaning to learn the solo guitar bit for a while," he said, playing a last couple of chords before putting his guitar down. He caught a glimpse of Tina's expression. "What? It's one of the coolest solos ever. Everyone says so."

"_'Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice; And she said 'we are all just prisoners here, of our own device'_?" Tina laughed. "It could be Lima."

"Well, yeah, there is that," Artie nodded as he grinned at her. "So, how was Glee?" The question was casual enough, but Tina could hear what was underneath - that he hated not being there, but wanted to know everything about it, no matter how much it hurt.

She simply smiled and moved closer, curling up beside him. "Oh you know what Rachel is like," she said, keeping it generic. "Demanding, annoying, frustratingly good..."

Artie snorted with laughter. "So no real change there?" he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"No. No change. So, what are we watching, nerd boy?" Tina asked, determined to change the subject.

"Nerd boy?" Artie laughed, then lifted up a DVD case, showing it to Tina. "Only the best action movie ever."

"Die Hard? Seriously? I can think of far better action movies, but I suppose it'll do," Tina replied, plucking the case from Artie's hand and moving over to put the DVD in the machine before settling back beside him.

A couple of hours later, Artie had disappeared, most likely to the bathroom (something Tina really didn't want to think about, and she knew Artie got embarrassed about it, so it was one of those unspoken things between them - one she didn't mind), so rather than sit on her own, Tina headed into the kitchen, with the intention of getting them some drinks. Mrs Abrams looked up, smiling at Tina. "Hi, Tina," she said. "Looking for drinks? There's some soda in the refrigerator."

Tina nodded, rather than saying anything. She liked Mrs Abrams, it was just sometimes her natural shyness got the better of her. She went to the 'fridge, pulling out a bottle of Artie's favourite soda, and poured some into two glasses. She was about to turn to go back into the family room to sit and wait on Artie, when something stopped her.

"Mrs Abrams?"

"Yes, Tina dear?" Artie's mom replied, glancing up from her recipe book to look at Tina.

Tina took a deep breath. She knew what she wanted to say, but wasn't quite sure how to say it, especially not to an adult. Her mother would kill her if she knew that she was going to say what she was.. "Mrs Abrams, can I ask you a question?"

Mrs Abrams was silent for a moment, watching Tina carefully. "I suspect I know what this is about. It's about me making Artie leave Glee, isn't it?"

Tina nodded in response, and carried on. "He really misses it. I don't even think he realizes how much. But when I look at him, he's unhappy. Just a bit, but it's there. He loves it so much and..."

"And I made him leave all that. Yes, I know, but you need to understand something, Tina. Sometimes things happen, and you have no control over them. It's sad, but that's the way life is. At the moment his father and I think that the Glee club is not a good place for Artie to be."

"And what about what he wants?" Tina asked, suddenly gaining in confidence. "You've always encouraged him to do what he wants, without limitations. Suddenly, he can't?"

Mrs Abrams face lost all movement, becoming very still. Tina realized that she was trying not to let any emotion show, which was unlike her. "Tina. It's admirable how much you care for Artie, and believe me when I say we appreciate it, but there are some things that are better left alone, to be dealt with within the family." She turned away from Tina, leaving the room.

Tina stared after her, wondering just what had happened. "Tee? You okay?" Artie asked, looking up at her as he arrived in the kitchen. "You look odd."

She shook herself slightly before picking up the drinks. "No, I'm fine."

"Sure?"

"Yup."

* * *

Sunday afternoon came, and Tina was procrastinating about her homework as usual. Instead of actually doing it, she was browsing on Youtube, looking for songs. Maybe Artie couldn't be in Glee itself, but that didn't mean he couldn't take part musically. Mrs Abrams hadn't said that he couldn't be in jazz band, after all. While it wasn't the same, it was at least something.

And so Tina was trying to find out a piece of music that she could take to Mr Schue that would work. Something that featured a rocking guitar solo, give Artie a chance to shine in another way. Maybe they could do another Queen number - it would please Puck and Finn, if nothing else. Pleased with that thought, she typed in Queen, clicking on iKiller Queen/i. Kurt could probably get away with singing that. As the music played, she opened another window, checking Facebook. After five or so minutes there, she idly tapped Artie's name into a search engine, smiling slightly to herself as she clicked on his Facebook profile. 'In a relationship' still gave her a thrill every time she saw his status, even if it was so typically Artie to put that.

After checking up on Mercedes and Kurt (thankfully no new web pages had appeared for either of them), she moved onto Mr Schue. Nothing new there. Finally, she typed in 'Amy Henderson', wondering what she would find. She clicked on the first link, what appeared to be her Twitter account. Wow, she had a lot of friends was the first thing she noticed.

_lilhairdo Hey, remember this?_

Tina couldn't help being curious, and clicked on the link attached. It was a photo of a bachelorette party, Mrs Henderson in the middle.

_amyday How could I forget, Lewis?_

_lilhairdo Hey, Henderson now! Best thing that ever happened to me._

_amyday Yeah, you just like the regular sex!_

Tina flushed slightly, clicking away from that. Yes, she was happy with Artie, and she had given some thought to the idea that one day they would, maybe, possibly, they would, well, have sex - make love, whatever, but it seemed a very long way away at the moment. Tina knew she wasn't ready, and she suspected Artie, for all his talk about a working penis, wasn't either. She idly typed in 'Amy Lewis'. Hadn't she said she'd gone to college to do Musical Performance? There might be old performances. Videos of that would liven up the glee rehearsal, after all.

* * *

A few hours later, Tina lay on her bed, curled up in on herself, ignoring the phone that was ringing, even though she really wanted to hear Artie's voice. After 'Smoke on the Water' had stopped playing, she turned it onto silent, then shoved it under her pillow. She lay there quietly for fifteen minutes, trying to process everything she had found when her mother knocked on the door, almost immediately popping her head round.

"Sweetie...?" Her expression changed as she saw Tina lying there, but continued speaking. "No, Artie, now isn't a good time. Yes, I'll tell her to call you back. Okay. Bye." She dropped the phone on the bed, and sat down beside her daughter, obviously worried. "Tina? What's wrong? Have you two had a fight or something? That was Artie on the phone, he says he's been trying to get hold of you."

Tina shook her head, and slowly started to pull herself together. She couldn't help but smile slightly when her mother brushed her hair away from her forehead. "No, it's all fine, I just didn't want to talk to him tonight. I'll see him tomorrow, it's okay."

Mrs Cohen-Chang frowned. "What's up? You're not normally like this."

Tina thought frantically for a moment. She couldn't tell her mother the truth, not before she had talked to anyone else. It wasn't fair, especially not to Artie. "The jocks are being worse than normal. I'm just not looking forward to tomorrow." Not necessarily the truth, but not exactly a lie either.

"Do I need to talk to the Principal again?"

"No!" Tina said, shaking her head. "It'll be fine, Mom. Honest."

Tina's mother narrowed her eyes, then nodded before standing up. "Okay sweetheart. You know where I am though if you want to talk about it."

"Yeah." Tina watched as her mother left the room, then she sighed, sitting up and reaching for her messenger bag, pulling out a folder she'd stuffed in there earlier. All the print outs she had made earlier that day were in there, and she glanced through them, looking first at a wedding picture, then a newspaper article.

_Woman charged with causing grievous injury by dangerous driving._

_A 22 year woman from Aurora, Illinois has been charged by Toledo Police after allegedly causing a serious car accident. Amy Lewis, a student at the University of Toledo, was driving home when she was involved in an incident another car. Miss Lewis was later released on bail. The second car was severely damaged in the accident, with it's driver escaping injury, but an eight year old boy who was sitting in the rear seats was taken to Mercy Children's Hospital._

_No further details on the child's condition are available at this time but the boy's father, Matthew Abrams, has released a statement thanking the community for their support and requesting that donations be sent to Mercy Children's Hospital in lieu of flowers._

Tina threw the print out down, unable to read any more, her eyes filling with tears. How could she talk to Artie after that? The fact that she knew who caused the accident that had caused him so much pain over the years? Amy Lewis, who was now Amy Henderson. Of course, it might not be the same person, but with the wedding picture she'd found (thank goodness for social networking), and Mrs Abrams reaction, together they kind of proved it was her.

She sat on the bed, wrapping her arms around her knees, folding in on herself, and let herself cry.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** So here is chapter four, up earlier than I thought mainly because this weekend is bank holiday here, and I have time to hopefully hammer out my ArTina ficathon fic!

Thank you for all your reviews/alerts. I especially love the reviews (who doesn't?), and was pleased to see that the one thing I'd feared - that I'd projected who Amy was too soon - didn't seem to be the case. Good to know.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Glee is owned by Fox and Ryan Murphy Productions. No infringement intended.

* * *

"Where's that girlfriend of yours, Wheels?" Mercedes demanded of Artie as he arrived at Tina's locker. He blinked as he looked around.

"Honestly? I thought she'd be with you," he said, sounding confused. "She didn't answer my text this morning."

"Oh please, don't tell me you two have had another fight," Kurt said, linking his arm in Mercedes' as he stood next to her.

"If we did, I really don't know anything about it," Artie replied, firing off another quick text to Tina. He looked up as he heard a familiar 'message received' sound to see Tina approaching them. "And she's here... are you okay?" He looked up at her, worried. She looked as if she hadn't slept at all, and was frowning slightly.

"Hmmm?" she replied, not really looking at Artie.

"Earth to Tina?" Artie said, reaching out to touch her hand. He stared at her as she jerked away from his touch. "Tina?"

"I... I didn't sleep last night," she stammered out by way of an explanation. "I'm sorry. I'll see you in English." With that, she turned on her heel and headed off down the corridor, leaving Artie, Kurt and Mercedes to stare at the space where she'd been.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Mercedes asked, a full minute after she's left. Kurt shrugged, but Artie refused to look up at the pair of them. "Artie?"

"I don't know," Artie replied, staring after her, obviously confused. "She didn't talk to me last night either. We always ring each other late at night."

"Urgh, saccharin alert. I can feel the cavities forming from here. That is disgustingly cute. But to get back to Tina, we'll get it out of her," Kurt said confidently, patting Artie on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's not you this time."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

* * *

English was a class that Artie and Tina were supposed to have together, but Artie grew even more concerned when she didn't show up. Tina rarely skipped class, especially not the ones they shared. He fired off a quick text to Mercedes, phone hidden under his desk, but when she replied that she hadn't seen Tina all day apart from at the lockers, his levels of concern increased.

Tina was in fact hiding out in the one place she felt secure, even though she knew Artie or the others would eventually check there - the choir room. She sat at the piano, idly tapping on one note, much the same way she had when Artie made his apologies after the whole 'how to dress' incident. There was something comforting about the room, and she was lost in thought, completely failing to notice Will standing on the doorway.

"Tina?"

Tina literally jumped in her seat, before turning to look at Will. "Um..."

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Will asked, entering the room to stand closer to the piano.

Tina flushed slightly, nodding once. She couldn't bring herself to speak, not yet.

Will frowned, by now standing at the other end of the piano. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, studying her face carefully.

Tina ducked her head forward, scared that if she continued to look at Mr Schue she would do something stupid, like burst into tears. She'd done enough of that already. Her hair fell over her face like a curtain, hiding her from the world.

Will moved forward to stand directly in front of her, then as he realized she wasn't going to look at him, knelt down. "Tina?" he asked quietly. "What's wrong."

Under the cover of her hair, Tina shook her head. She wouldn't. She couldn't...

"Did you and Artie have a fight?" Will asked, saying the one thing he could think of that would have her appear this withdrawn. What he wasn't expecting was the sob that suddenly came out of Tina. "Hey, it's okay," he said, putting a hand on her arm, then was surprised as Tina suddenly reached out, hugging him and bursting into tears. "You'll work it out, knowing the two of you." It took Tina a couple of minutes to regain control, but when she did, she shook her sadly, making Will frown again. "Sure you will. You two are..."

"No," she started, taking a shuddering breath. "I-I-It's not that." Will moved back on his heels as he looked at her. It took another full minute before she looked directly at him. "I think I f-f-fouled up, Mr Schue."

"Why? It must be bad, it's been a long time since you stuttered," Will said, trying to put her at her ease.

"I was only trying to help," she ploughed on, ignoring the comment about her stutter. "I know how unhappy he is without Glee, I just wanted to make it easier for him."

"That's sweet of you," Will said with a smile. "But I don't see how that's fouling up."

"Any time I do research for Artie, something goes wrong," Tina said unhappily. "You'd have thought I'd have learnt by now."

"Tell me what happened."

Tina brushed the tears away from her eyes. "I need to get some waterproof make up," she said absently before reaching down to her messenger bag. "I thought that I'd look up some music we could perform, get the jazz band working with Glee properly, you know? His mom couldn't complain then. Something like Killer Queen, maybe. And then my mind wandered. I was checking on friends online, then other people. So..." She paused, biting her bottom lip.

"So?" Will prompted.

Rather than answer directly, Tina pushed the folder she'd pulled out of her bag at Will, shaking her head. A glance at her told Will that she was fighting back tears again, so he pulled up a chair and started reading.

"Tina?" he said as the first thing he found was a wedding picture - Amy's wedding picture. She shook her head, pointing at the folder and he continued to read.

"Oh crap."

* * *

It hadn't take Will long to come to the same conclusion as Tina, and she'd broken down in tears again at that point. "I take it Artie doesn't know?" he said eventually.

"N-n-no," Tina stammered, before stopping to take a deep breath. The last thing anyone needed at the moment was her stutter becoming real. "No, I only found out last night, and I've avoided him so far today. Mr Schue... I don't know what to do. I mean, I know now, and I can't lie to him - it's something we promised when we finally sorted things out - but how can I tell him about this? That the person who was driving the car that caused the accident is here, helping you teach Glee? And that his mom knows and hasn't told him?"

"You think he'd be mad?"

"I don't know," Tina replied. "Some days he's totally fine about it all, and has accepted that it's not going to get better ever, then the next moment he goes all defensive and pushes everyone away. But this? This is huge. And he's going to ask me what's wrong, and..." She burst into tears again.

"And you feel you'll have to tell him," Will finished off her thought for her. "Do you have any classes with him today?"

"History and Spanish."

"Right," Will said, nodding. "Well, I can write you a study pass for Spanish. Go and be in the library then. Perhaps... would it be okay if I got you to sit with Miss Pillsbury during History? She doesn't have to know details about why, just that you need somewhere to be."

Tina thought about it then nodded. "What about Glee?" she asked in a small voice. "She's going to be there and..."

"Don't come to Glee. Go home. I'll say you feel sick."

"But..."

"There are solos we can work on, don't worry about it. Rachel will love the opportunity. Look, Tina. I want to talk to Mrs Henderson, find out what happened," Will said. "Get her side of things. Then we can think about how to tell Artie. We'll work it out, I promise."

Tina looked directly at Will. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"Good rehearsal," Amy said with a smile as she helped Will to tidy up the choir room.

"Yeah, they are starting to pull it together," Will replied, nodding. "They should be nicely ready for Sectionals."

Amy looked at him closely for a minute. "Are you okay, Will?" she asked, as she picked up the last of the music. "You seem... well, distracted today. Even during rehearsal there was something bothering you."

Will sighed slightly, sitting down on his normal seat. "Amy, can I ask you a question?" he asked. "A personal one?"

She tensed up slightly, but nodded. "Sure. What's up?"

Will paused for a moment, thinking of the best way to frame what he had to say. "When we first talked, you mentioned a personal tragedy that stopped you from carrying on your musical career. Can I ask... what was it?"

"What?" she spat out, immediately going on the defensive, folding her arms across her chest. "What business is it of yours?"

Will's expression didn't change. "Because there's something going on, and I have a hunch about it, but I wanted to talk to you about things."

"You have a hunch about something completely random, out of the blue, and you decide to question me on my past? Because I always have to be involved." Will sat there silently, watching her, before she turned around, making a frustrated sound. She moved to a chair, and sat down heavily putting her face in her hands. "I should have known that there was nowhere safe from my past," she muttered. "And I suppose you're going to judge me too?"

"Should I? I'd prefer not to if I can help it," Will said. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Bad luck, bad timing, whatever," she said bitterly. "I was twenty-one, made a _stupid _mistake, and it comes back to haunt me now." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "I was at college in Toledo, in my senior year. Everything was going great. I had a couple of auditions lined up, was all set to try and join a professional orchestra when I graduated. It's what I'd wanted to do since I started playing violin."

She stood up, pacing around. "It was mid-October, one of those evenings when it gets dark early. I was driving home from a rehearsal, and wasn't really focused on the road. I was sending a text to my room mate, telling her not to worry, that I was on my way, when suddenly everything changed. I was at an intersection, and I never saw the car coming in the other direction. The next thing I knew, everything hurt. I'd hit the car side on." She stopped, wiping away some tears. "I don't remember much about what happened after that. I staggered out of my car, but I'd hit my head badly, and there was a lot of blood. I remember the driver..." She paused, choking back a sob. "The driver of the other car was screaming for her son. He... He'd been sitting right where I'd hit."

Amy's tears were flowing freely now. "I was taken to hospital first - they wanted me out of the way as they worked on the other car. The police kept questioning me, and all I wanted to know was how the little boy was. I..." She paused, a choked noise escaping as she turned away from Will. "I knew it was all my fault. I'd been distracted, but they just wouldn't tell me how he was, other than to tell me to pray that he was ok."

She sat down heavily, taking a moment to compose herself. "They charged me with causing serious injury due to reckless driving, but the case was dropped before it ever went to trial. My dad hired good lawyers, and I was in such a daze about the whole thing I just followed their advice. There were no other witnesses, and prosecution said they couldn't get enough definitive evidence to make the charges stick. I think Dad even organized a pay out to the family."

She looked up at Will. "The poor kid... he couldn't walk again. Where my car hit... his back was broken and his spinal cord badly damaged. I haven't really thought about it for years, at least not in any detail. One of those things - a nightmare sometimes, a constant awareness of what happened, but I do my best to push it aside, to get on with my life or I'm scared it will all fall apart." She brushed her tears away. "Now, you owe me an explanation as to why I had to drag all of that up."

"Can you remember any of the names?" Will asked.

"I remember his mom screaming his name so clearly. 'Arthur'. The boy's name was Arthur. The rest... if I think about it, maybe. I've buried it deeply deliberately. It took me years and a hell of a lot of therapy. All I ever wanted after the charges were dropped was a chance to get on with my life."

"Artie," Will said softly, running his hand through his hair and sighing.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Artie. The boy, Arthur. He goes by Artie now."

Amy looked at him, stunned. "What, you knew all along and you just decided to string me along, make me remember... Oh my God." Fresh tears appeared in her eyes as the realization hit her. "No..."

"His mom must have recognized you," Will said quietly, moving closer to her, putting his hand on her arm to try and comfort her. "That's why she pulled him from Glee."

"But it was in Toledo, not here," Amy said. "Why would he be here?"

"They were visiting his mother's sister in Toledo at the time, but they've always lived in Lima, I think."

"How do you know all this?" Amy asked, her tone turning accusatory. "I mean, you must have known for a while. You were, what, just leading me on all this time?"

"No," Will replied, shaking his head. "His girlfriend figured it out last night, and she told me today in a panic. She didn't know what else to do. I told her to sit on it for now until I could talk to you."

"He has a girlfriend? Of course he does, Tina," Amy said, looking directly at Will for the first time since the conversation started.

"Yeah, Tina. They are pretty much inseparable."

"Wow," Amy said, lost in though. "I always wondered what happened to him, how his life had been."

"Hard," Will replied. "Kids'll be kids. But he's a survivor, and is always there with a smile on his face, even if he's in pain."

"And Glee? How does - did he cope, really? We didn't really have long before he was pulled out of it."

"He works hard, harder than most of the kids here realize. But he loves it. He's a mean lead guitarist, good dancer in his own way, and a damn good singer."

"He misses it?"

"Yeah. I've seen him a couple of times recently, and he does. He plays in the jazz band, but it's not the same."

Amy bit on her bottom lip, turning away from Will. "And what now?" she asked quietly.

"Now? I don't know," Will admitted. "Figure out a way to talk to his mom, I guess. Now Tina knows, it won't be a secret from him for long."

"How can I face him? Or ask him to face me?" Amy asked plaintively.

"If you could face him, talk to him, would you?" Will asked.

"I don't know. I... I want to, but I don't know."

* * *

Tina had gone home as Will had suggested, but all that happened was that she paced around, prompting her mother to ask what was wrong. Tina had replied 'nothing', at which point her mother pointed out that if it was nothing, could she go and do nothing elsewhere, where it would be less disturbing. Even go and see that boyfriend of hers, assuming they had sorted things out.

Tina had walked almost all of the way to the Abrams house before she realized what she was doing. Her knock on the door was automatic, done before she had time to figure out what she was going to do. The smile that Mrs Abrams gave her when she opened the door was genuine, and Tina knew she was about to destroy all of that.

"Tina, dear. We weren't expecting you. Artie's in his room, playing guitar. You can stay for dinner, if you want," Mrs Abrams said, stepping back to let Tina in, but frowning when Tina didn't move.

"Mrs Abrams... I actually didn't come to see Artie," she confessed.

"Oh?"

"No." Tina took a deep breath, before ploughing on. "I know we've talked about it before, but I don't think you realize just how much not being in Glee is upsetting him. He's withdrawing, becoming more like the Artie I first met, before he had a place in school to call his own, and I hate seeing him like that."

"I'm sorry, Tina. I know you care for him, but my decision is final. He is not going to be doing Glee."

"Because of who Mrs Henderson is?" Tina blurted out. She didn't know what reaction to expect, but to see Mrs Abrams go pale and start shaking was not what she thought.

"How... how do you know that?" she said eventually.

Tina closed her eyes for a moment. A part of her had hoped that what she'd found out had been wrong, that Mrs Henderson wasn't the one. The one that hurt her boyfriend. She hated that she was right, the fact that _she_ was now the one to bring pain on Artie. "It had to be something big, because normally you're the first one there, encouraging him to lead a normal life. I worked it out last night."

"You can't tell him!"

"I can't _not_ tell him," Tina said, standing a little more upright as she gained confidence in herself. "Mrs Abrams, I know you want to protect him. I get that, believe me. I've lost track of the number of times I've wanted to since I've known him. But this... it's hurting him so much, missing Glee. He looks sad all the time. And everyone there misses him." That was something Tina hadn't been expecting, but every time they prepared the choreography, it was obvious they were all thinking about where the wheelchair would go. Finn had refused a solo the previous week because 'Artie should be singing it, this suits him far better'. Even Puck and Santana seemed to feel the loss.

"She's there." Tina was rocked by the amount of venom in Artie's mother's voice but she stood her ground.

"He's sixteen, Mrs Abrams. Don't you think he's old enough to make his own decisions, especially about something like this?"

"No."

Tina just stood there, watching. "He's going to figure it out, you know. And I won't lie to him when he asks me what's wrong. You know what things were like after the stutter incident." Mrs Abrams had talked to Tina about it when she and Artie had sorted things out, and they started dating officially. She wanted to be sure her son wasn't going to get hurt again. "We promised each other that we wouldn't lie to each other again. I can't. I _won't_. I care for him too much."

She turned, heading down the drive, but spun round, looking at Mrs Abrams. "I can't keep away from him forever." She left quickly, knowing that Mrs Abrams was watching her as she walked away, but didn't turn. She didn't want anyone to see her crying this time.


	5. Chapter 5

And I'm back with this story! Sorry I haven't updated for a while, my ArTina ficathon story took a lot out of me (and thank you all for the lovely reviews for it, by the way. It means a lot). Start of the season in a few days (except if you are in the UK like me, when it looks like we get it in January) and boooo to splitting up Artie and Tina. Yeah, I can see me writing fanfic to compensate for the loss (I might be in denial, slightly).

I'm nearly finished here, just one more chapter to go after this. It's been a fun thing to write, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own Glee. That honour belongs to Fox and Ryan Murphy Productions

* * *

The following morning, Tina couldn't help the small sigh of relief she gave when Artie wasn't at his usual place by the lockers. It was bad enough facing Mercedes and Kurt.

"Girl, have you actually slept these past couple of days?" Mercedes asked bluntly before threading her arm through Tina's. "What the hell is going on?"

"Seriously, Tina. You look as if you've not slept, and those dark circles under your eyes do nothing for your complexion," Kurt said, his usual barbs tempered by the worry he was displaying. "Have you and Artie had some kind of fight? He's wearing the same sweater vest for the second day running, and while it's nice not to be subjected to a new one, that awful cloud one is an affront to my eyes."

Tina couldn't help the tears she felt welling up, but she shook her head. "I can't," she said in a quiet, helpless voice. Kurt and Mercedes shared a look, then dragged her into the nearby ladies bathroom. Tina was barely inside before she gave into the tears, and sank to the floor, her head resting on her knees, shaking as she cried.

Mercedes sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Kurt looked at the floor, shuddered, then crouched down in front of her, placing one hand on Tina's knee. "Tina, tell us. We only want to help," he said.

She shook her head sadly. "I-I-I can't," she said eventually.

"Why not?" Mercedes was rubbing her shoulder soothingly. "Like my boy said, we only want to help you."

"Because it's not my place," Tina replied eventually, slowly pulling herself together.

"Well, what can you tell us? You've been like this for two days, and today when I saw him arrive, Artie looked as if someone killed his favorite puppy..." Kurt didn't expect the fresh wave of tears from Tina, and he stared at Mercedes for a moment before shrugging.

"Okay, woman. You are going to tell us what's going on. It's something to do with that boyfriend of yours, that much is obvious. But since you won't talk to him, you're gonna have to make do with us. You need to get it out in the open." Tina shook her head again. "Okay, someone else to talk to?"

"Mr Schue," Tina replied eventually.

Kurt nodded once, standing up. "I'll be right back," he said, rushing out of the bathroom. Five minutes later, he returned with the Glee coach in tow.

Will went to kneel in front of Tina. "What happened, Tina?" he asked quietly.

Tina glanced over at Mercedes and Kurt. "I talked to... his mom," she said by way of explanation. "I think I screwed everything up, Mr Schue."

"Uh... we'll be over here," Mercedes said, standing up and moving across the room, dragging Kurt with her. It took Will a few moments to calm Tina down, but the crying eventually stopped, and Tina slowly pulled herself together again.

"I'm sure it will work out, Tina," Will said.

Tina couldn't help the hopeful look she gave Will. "Are you sure?"

Will nodded, trying to look confident for her. "I'm sure it will."

* * *

Somehow, Tina made it through the rest of the day without crying, but Artie was nowhere to be seen. Even at lunch, which they always had together, he was absent.

Kurt and Mercedes exchanges glances as Tina picked at her food. "Girl, you might as well tell us. We'll find out eventually, you know."

"I'm just worried about Artie," Tina confessed that much, avoiding looking at either of her friends.

"Why?" Mercedes asked, looking around. "He's just sick, right? He was in the nurses room till his mom could pick him up."

"I don't know, but he isn't answering texts. I'm just worried."

"Well, after Glee we'll take you round to his place and you can go see for yourself, hmmm?" Kurt said, smiling at her to try and cheer her up. He frowned at Tina's horrified expression.

Tina didn't see Artie the rest of the school day, and forced herself go to Glee. Maybe singing would cheer her up, even if Mrs Henderson was there. But it seemed luck was on her side for once, and there was no sign of Amy as Will arrived. After they had all settled, Will looked over at the students, catching Tina's eye and nodding slightly. "Everyone okay?" he asked.

"Of course we are," Rachel responded, frowning slightly. "Why wouldn't we be? And where is Mrs Henderson? I though we were going to go through the selection from the musicals? I've been rehearsing my solo ready for this."

Will sighed. "I'm not sure if she will be back to Glee," he said. The whole room fell silent. Tina tensed in her chair, avoiding looking at Will.

"What?" Rachel said, stunned. "But _why_?"

"I've resigned," Amy said from the doorway where she had stood watching the scene. She looked drained, but gave a small tight smile and slowly stepped into the room. "My last day is on Friday."

Everyone looked up, bemused. "But I thought you really enjoyed this?" Finn asked.

"I do, but something came up and I have to leave," Amy said, shrugging slightly. "It's just one of those things, Finn."

"This isn't fair!" Rachel half yelled. Tina seemed to sink in on herself, but no one noticed. "We need you."

"Rachel! Some things are better left well alone," Will said sharply, glaring at her. Rachel wilted somewhat under his scrutiny, before raising a defiant chin.

"I just think..."

"Excuse me," a new voice said from the doorway. Everyone swung their heads around to look at Artie, who was sitting there. Tina noticed that his eyes were red-rimmed, and he was nervous, twisting his hands in his lap, but she doubted anyone else would notice. She smiled at him, and he nodded once at her in return, then sat more upright in his chair, taking a deep breath. "Mr Schue? Do you have room for one more?"

"I thought..."

"It's fine. Mom changed her mind last night," Artie said in a flat voice. "She's okay about it." Tina doubted that anyone but her would catch the slight pause before the word 'okay', and she bit her bottom lip. She looked between Artie and Mrs Henderson. Both of them were carefully avoiding looking at each other.

Will smiled as he walked over to stand in front of Artie. "You're sure?" he asked.

Artie smiled, that bright smile that Tina know was hiding all kinds of emotions. "You're kidding, right? You think you're going to Nationals in New York without me?"

A wave of laughter went through the room, breaking the tension. Tina glanced at Kurt, who immediately moved his chair to the far side of Mercedes. Artie wheeled himself over to beside Tina, giving her a tiny smile.

"Okay then, Artie, you'll need to learn the music, obviously, but I know you'll pick it up quickly. We've been working on a Queen number, which I'm sure you'll appreciate..." Will turned to Amy, who had gone pale, but hadn't moved from the spot. They exchanged a glance, Amy nodding once at him, before he turned back to the kids.

The rest of the rehearsal ran smoothly, spirits seemingly lifted by Artie's return. At one point he sat to the side, watching the choreography, figuring out what he could do, with Tina sitting beside him, Will having decided that the pair should be dance partners for this number. Unless you looked closely, you wouldn't be able to tell just how tightly Artie was holding onto Tina's hand.

* * *

As soon as rehearsal was over, Amy left as fast as she could. Will watched her go, sighing slightly before turning back to the group. "Great to have you back, Artie," he said, clapping him on the shoulder briefly before heading out of the door as well.

"Indeed!" Rachel said brightly. "Though it seems you arrived during an unnecessary moment of drama."

Artie glanced up at Tina, who was hovering over him. "So I hear," he said.

"She can't leave us, not at this point!"

"Rachel, if I were you I'd just drop it," Tina said with a sigh. "She's made up her mind."

"I'll do what I can to change it. I can be very persuasive," Rachel replied, before flouncing out of the choir room. Finn watched her go, shrugged, then followed her. The rest of them filtered out slowly, leaving Mercedes, Kurt, Tina and Artie behind.

"Okay Tina," Kurt demanded when he was sure the four of them were alone. "You know what's going on with Mrs Henderson. Spill."

"Yeah, girl. And I'm willing to bet Wheels does too, by the look of him. Start talking," Mercedes added.

Artie and Tina looked at each other, holding each other's gaze for a moment. "Not today, guys," Artie said eventually. "Maybe later, but Mom is picking me up in a few minutes, and it really isn't a good time."

Tina looked sad for a moment, but nodded her head. "Wait a couple of days," she said, agreeing with Artie. "Please?"

Kurt and Mercedes exchanged a long look then nodded. "Don't think we won't forget," Kurt said, before linking arms with Mercedes.

"Oh, I know you won't," Artie said with a small smile, then looked up at Tina. "Walk me to my locker?" he asked.

Tina nodded, picking up her bag and putting it on the back of Artie's chair before taking her familiar place behind him, ready to push him out of the room. Kurt and Mercedes waved at them, then headed out, leaving Artie and Tina alone. "I hoped we'd have more time," she said quietly, before setting out to the lockers.

"Mom's still in hyper-protective mode," Artie said with a sigh. "She insisted on dropping me off this morning, and picking me up after school. But we need to talk. Can you come over later?"

Tina frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked. "I don't think your Mom is going to be too pleased to see me after everything that's happened."

Artie gave her a small smile. "Mom's out tonight at a work event. It's just me and Dad, and he'll be fine with it. He thought Mom was over reacting about the whole situation anyway."

"Are you sure?" Tina asked again, making sure it was what Artie wanted.

"I'm sure," he replied, smiling up at her. "I'll even order pizza - with extra peppers."

Tina's face lit up at the thought. "Is seven thirty okay? I don't want to be out too late, Mom will kill me if I am when we have school tomorrow."

"That's fine. Mom should be home just after nine. See you later?" He looked up at her, a hopeful expression crossing his face.

"You bet," Tina replied, bending down to kiss him briefly. "Go, before your mom sees me."

* * *

Just after seven thirty, Tina walked slowly up the Abrams' drive. She'd held back, making sure that Mrs Abrams had definitely left before going up to knock on the door. Artie opened it seconds later, smiling at her. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," she said in response, waiting for him to roll back before stepping into the house. "So my Mom thinks we're doing the math homework."

"The homework I finished earlier deliberately?" Artie replied with a grin, nodding at her. "You can have my notes."

"You're the best, Artie," Tina said, following him into the family room. "Oh, Mr Abrams." She wasn't expecting to have to face any of Artie's family, even though she knew that he'd be in the house, and she shrank back automatically. "Hi."

Artie looked up at her, frowning slightly. "It's okay," He said gently, reaching to touch her hand, trying to reassure her. "Dad's going to order pizza."

Tina was still uncertain, and held back. "Tina, it's fine," Mr Abrams said, smiling at her as he walked around, picking up the book that was lying on the coffee table. "You did the right thing, really." He looked at his son, smiling slightly. "We forget sometimes how quickly he's growing up."

"Dad," Artie protested, blushing slightly. Tina giggled at this, breaking the tension. "Please... don't."

Mr Abrams reached over, ruffling Artie's hair, who promptly pushed it back to how it was with a glare at his father. "C'mon. You're in Glee. You have a girlfriend. You're old enough to make up your own mind about things. I'll leave you two kids alone and order pizza - though I'll warn you when your Mom's on the way home. I'm sorry, Tina. Some things are just too raw at the moment. As much as I'm happy you're here, it's going to take her a while to be able to face you again." He nodded once at the pair before heading off to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Tina said quietly after a moment.

Artie turned and looked at her. "What for?"

She sighed, before moving over to the sofa and sitting down. "Upsetting your Mom. Not telling you after I found out. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but all that happened was I hurt them worse."

Artie looked at her for a moment before parking his chair next to the sofa, and moving himself onto it in one smooth practised movement, sitting next to Tina. "Don't be sorry," he said once he'd settled himself. "Really." Tina glanced at him, confused, but didn't say anything. "I'd have found out eventually. Place like this, a small town, full of gossips, someone would have said something, put it all together like you did. I can just see Rachel doing a background check on her, and standing up in the middle of Glee announcing something about Mrs Henderson's dark, hidden past. She'd treat it like an episode of some TV show."

Tina couldn't help herself and giggled before she could realize what she was doing, and clapped her hand over her mouth. Artie grinned at her. "Tina. It's fine. You can laugh. I'm not going to fall apart or anything."

Tina took Artie's hand, smiling properly. "Well, it's such a Rachel thing to do," she said.

"I know. What's worse is she wouldn't really realize how upsetting it could be. She'd think she was doing it for everyone's good. But you? If anything, you care too much. I hated seeing you upset, even if I didn't know what was wrong."

Tina turned in her seat, leaning towards Artie slightly, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. "So you aren't upset that I found out that..." She trailed off, unsure how to carry on.

"That you found out who caused the accident?" Artie said gently, waiting until Tina nodded. "No. Why would I be upset with you? You didn't cause it."

"It's a huge thing, Artie," Tina replied, her eyes going wide. "I know how you feel about being in the chair at times and I kind of hammered it home for you, bringing back memories. I was only trying to help."

"You did," Artie interrupted her, taking her hand properly, intertwining his fingers with hers. "Help, I mean. I couldn't figure out why Mom was being the way she was. I mean, she's been protective before, but this was so different this time. I think it even took Dad a few days to work out why she was acting like that. She wouldn't tell him. But it was driving me crazy, and all because I didn't know why. It couldn't have gone on. I was so close to defying her, and going to Glee anyway."

"Artie..."

"Like Dad said, I'm growing up. it's one of those decisions I needed to make on my own."

Tina was silent for a moment, before looking at him. "And how do you feel now you've made it? I mean..."

"I know," Artie said, turning away slightly for a moment. He was quiet for a long time - so long that Tina shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I don't know," he said eventually. "I don't think I can talk to her. I feel like I should hate her for what she did. I mean, if she'd paid just a little bit more attention to what she was doing, I wouldn't be in this chair. But.. I can't help feeling as if that's Mom speaking, not me. I mean, who's to say that it wouldn't have happened anyway? I might have always been fated to be like this, however much I hate it. At the end of the day, I have to focus on getting what I can out of life, while in this chair. Do I wish it had never happened? Yeah, a lot, and especially after getting to know you. But it did happen, and I have to make the most of my life now, chair included. It's part of me." He smiled at Tina, tightening his grip on her hand. She returned the smile, and brought her other hand to cover his. "It's like Dad said, I'm growing up. I never expected to have a girlfriend, especially one as awesome as you."

"You're only saying that because you're hoping for a make-out session later," Tina smirked, raising an eyebrow.

Artie pretended to think about it for a minute, then returned her smile. "What, did you expect me to say no?" he said, before leaning over and kissing her briefly. "But really, no, not with Dad likely to walk in at any minute. What I meant was that I'm lucky to have someone like you, who cares enough to do research like that - again. Considering that a year ago I never thought that anyone would like me that way..."

Tina's response was to gently disengage their hands, lifting his arm up and putting it round her shoulder, and to curl up against his side, smiling all the time. "I'd do it again," she said eventually. "And I do. Like you, that is."

Artie laughed to himself. "So glad about that," he said, settling back comfortably, and pulling Tina closer into his side. He was silent for a moment. "Does she know? Who I am, that is?"

Tina made a soft affirmative noise. "Mr Schue confronted her about it."

"Really?" Artie shifted slightly, looking down at Tina.

"Yeah. I... talked to him when I couldn't hold it in anymore, and afterwards he said that he'd talked to her about it, basically confirmed what I'd found out. That's why she's leaving, I guess."

"I kinda feel bad that she's leaving because of me," he said quietly, but was interrupted by his father bringing in pizza.

"Well, Artie, you're the one who is going to have to decide if you want to approach her and tell her that - if that's what you really want," Mr Abrams said, putting the pizza on the table and perching on the edge of a seat. "She's probably as scared to face you as you are to see her. I would be if I was her, anyway."

"Scared to face _me_?" Artie said, confused.

"Son, she's probably never stopped thinking about you since the day of the accident. You say she's a decent person, Tina?"

Tina nodded. "She is. She's helped us all a lot in Glee since she started. Rachel will probably continue to flip out over the next few days until Mrs Henderson makes her decision."

"Yeah, but that's nothing new for Rachel. I just don't understand why she's scared of me," Artie said, a wide eyed expression crossing his face. "Last time I checked, I wasn't exactly intimidating to, well, anyone."

"Yeah, but not everyone has been put through a life changing experience like you have," Tina said thoughtfully. "I bet she feels guilty as hell about it all."

"I know I would. You need to think about what you want to do," Mr Abrams said, standing up. "Enjoy your pizza, kids. I'll let you know when your Mom is on her way home."


End file.
